The restaurant that opened in 2000 was a popular brunch spot on the weekends, but owners Torrey and Jennifer McCoy decided after working every weekend for more than a decade that it was time to focus on family.

With two children, ages 9 and 13, “we decided to focus on what’s most important to us,” Torrey McCoy said. “It’s a matter of priorities and taking weekends and enjoying that time a little differently, knowing it is a short-lived experience.”

Closing the restaurant was bittersweet, however. “We realized how many relationships we had ... it was pretty hard and made us humble realizing how many had their own value with McCoy’s, their own experiences, their own memories.”

The restaurant building is owned by Jennifer McCoy’s mother, and negotiations are under way for another eatery. “In the next few months to come, I hope there will be some sort of deal that would happen,” Torrey McCoy said. “We would love to have it be a busy, great place.”

Barbecue in the pit

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit, a 61-year-old Texas-based eatery, will open in the next couple months at Midtown Commons, 2721 S. College Ave. Dickey’s franchisee Brenda Black and business partner Rex Schweers are bringing the ninth Dickey’s Colorado franchise to Fort Collins. The store will open in the former home of Senor Camaron’s, previously CiCi’s Pizza.

Black grew up in Montana, and Schweers grew up in Greeley. They are new franchisees in the Dickey’s chain, spokeswoman Kate Morganelli said. Like every Dickey’s Barbecue, Black and Schweers will smoke their own meat at the restaurant.

The two wanted to open in Fort Collins, Morganelli said, because the area is growing and is family friendly. The restaurant is expected to employ about 10 workers and be open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit was started by Travis Dickey in 1941 in Dallas on a shoestring. Space on the restaurant’s sign was rented out to help pay the start-up costs, and the menu was limited to beef brisket, pit hams, barbecue beans, potato chips, beer, milk and soda.

Brothers Roland and T.D. Dickey Jr. took over the business in 1967, continuing their father’s legacy and expanding the menu. Franchising began in 1994 and now numbers more than 260 throughout the country. Eight of its more than 270 locations are corporate-owned.

Several barbecue restaurants have opened in Fort Collins in the past couple years, with the addition of Moe’s Original BBQ and Nordy’s in Old Town and Brother Mel’s at the corner of Prospect Road and College Avenue.